As for the “18 kinds of feats” mentioned in ancient China, they refer to the use of 18 varieties of weapons. The argument has always been different, but generally refers to a bow, crossbow, spear, stick, knife, sword, lance, shield, ax, tomahawk, halberd, pole, whip, mace, hammer, fork, harrow and dagger-axe. Indeed, there are more than 18 varieties of weapons in ancient China, and moreover, the weapons used in martial arts are quite different from those used in military operations. People who do martial arts pay attention to individual fighting while military operations focus on group efforts and unity.
There are strange weapons in martial arts, and all kinds of hidden weapons, with the total number reaching as many as 100 varieties, many of which have not been handed down from past generations and are on the verge of extinction as a result. In recent years, the most commonly used weapons in martial arts are knives, swords, spears, sticks and whips.
Short Weapons
The so-called short weapons refer to the light weapons that are less than the length of a normal eyebrow, and are often held with a single hand in practice. The most common short weapons are a knife and sword. This series of knives includes a single knife and double knives; both are used mainly for cleaving and chopping. A single knife requires swiftness and bravery while double knives boast better appreciation value. A master uses double knives just like he would rolling balls.
A sword has adouble-edge, mainly used for stabbing. It falls into two kinds, namely, a single sword and a double sword. Single swords account for a big proportion. Some swords are furnished with sword tassel (also known as the sword gown), which are literal swords, and those without tassels are called military swords.
The ax is also a kind of short weapon today. But axes used in ancient warfare had long handles, commonly known as “broadax,” which belonged to the category of long weapons.
There are two kinds of whips, namely soft and hard. A hard whip is made of steel and consists of 13 sections. The most commonly known is a bamboo-like steel whip with a sharp end, which is mainly used for hacking and smashing and can also be used for picking and punching. A soft whip is known as a 9-section whip, consisting of 9 sections of thin steel or cooper rods. Its length is slightly shorter than the height of a person, and its movements are mainly winding and brandish in the form of a circle.
Mace is a long strip of steel weapon, usually having four edges without blades, or no sharp ends. With a length of about 0.8m, it also belongs to a kind of weapon for hacking and smashing. There are also double maces, each are about 0.6–0.7 m long.
A hook is a kind of multi-blade weapon with a blade on its body while its end is hook-shaped. An armguard is crescentshaped with a sharp point and blade.
Canes are a kind of wooden weapon, divided into short and long. A short cane is about 0.7 m long, and a long cane is about 1.3 m. It is characterized by the horizontal handle near the end of the crabstick in the form of a “T.” It is used not only for striking and smashing, but also for hooking and pulling away the weapons of rivals. A stick is close to a cane, but the horizontal handle of the stick is at the far end of the crabstick, also in the shape of a “T.” The stick is about 1.2 m long and can be used with one or two hands.
A whip-stick is a short wooden rod, about 1.3 m long and slightly thin. It is said to have originated from a horsewhip stick. It is short without an edge, portable and easy to use, and quite popular in northwestern China. There is also a short weapon from ancient times called an iron ruler, which is about 0.6 m in length, slim and long without sharp points and a blade. It is mainly used for hacking, smashing, pointing, and punching. Once popular in the Qing Dynasty, it is now extremely rare.
Long Weapons
The most common weapons in martial arts are spears, sticks and falchions.
In martial arts, the spear is known as “the king of weapons.” As the saying goes, “a spear thrusts in a line.” Requiring a straight line in practice, there is a saying that believes the middle horizontal thrust is the chief of a spear, which is hard to defend. It relies mainly on an outward block, followed by an inward block and then a thrust.
A stick has the longest history out of the long weapons. It is called “shu” (ancient shu had an edge without a blade), and covers a wide variety. If classified by shape, there are long sticks, eyebrow-level sticks, shaozi sticks and many others varieties. If classified by materials, there are wooden and iron sticks. The wooden stick is the most common. Primary stick techniques are quick and powerful and mostly including spinning. With a large attack space, it is believed, “a stick can hit a lot of rivals.”
Three-section stick consists of three sections of hard wood connected by iron hoops, which can be used flexibly. A shaozi stick is connected by a short, hard piece of wood at the end of the stick with iron hoops, which can unexpectedly and effectively help users when fighting against enemies.
A falchion is fitted with a long handle, and is also known as a “spring and autumn falchion,” “yanyue dao (reclining moon falchion),” or “long falchion.” During the Tang Dynasty (618–907), falchions were 3 m in length and weighed 7.5 kg. With blades on both sides, it was called “Mo Dao.” Today, falchions used in martial arts have blades on one side. There is another kind of “po” broadsword, whose handle is shorter than that of a falchion. It is long and narrow, and used with both hands.